Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track & Field Heads to Penn Relays, Maroon & Gold Invite in Regular-Season Finales
4/24/2013 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
April 24, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell track and field has just one week left to work out any kinks before the Patriot League Championships and it will do that at the Penn Relays and Bloomsburg Maroon & Gold Invitational starting Thursday. Complete schedules and live results for the Penn Relays, which get underway at 10 a.m. tomorrow in Philadelphia, are available at ThePennRelays.com. The Maroon & Gold Invite is set for Saturday in Bloomsburg, Pa.
SPRINTS/HURDLES
- The sprinters and hurdlers were a busy group at last Saturday's Bucknell Team Challenge. Of the four school records broken by the Bison, three of them came at distances under 400 meters. Kim Nagotko took over the Bucknell standards for the women's 100 and 200 meters, while Christian Lupica broke his own 110-meter hurdle record.
- Nagotko was named the Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday after running 12.05 seconds in the 100, breaking a record that had stood since 1990, and 24.59 in the 200. She was also second overall as a member of the 4x100 that finished in 47.74 seconds, earning the third-fastest time in program history.
- Lupica broke his own record in the 110 hurdles, running 13.96 seconds. That makes him the first Bison to finish in under 14 seconds. The time also earned him the win, which helped him with the hurdles sweep after he also won at the 400-meter distance.
- Justin Hicks also contributed to a sprints sweep, winning the 100 and 200 on the men's side. The senior improved from 10th all-time at Bucknell to second in the 100 meters, clocking in at 10.59 seconds. The finish put him tantalizingly close to the school record, currently held by Noel Powell at 10.52.
- The Bucknell men logged 10 individual wins at the Team Challenge and four of them went to sprinters and hurdlers.
- With the IC4A and ECAC Championships quickly approaching, the Bison are starting to make up their travel roster. Already with qualifying marks are Hicks (100m), Lupica (110 hurdles, 400 hurdles) and the men's and women's 4x100 relays.
- Lupica has placed himself among the top 60 in the region in three events, an important ranking to watch as the top 48 declared athletes will earn a spot at the NCAA East Preliminaries in late May. Lupica is 16th in the 110 hurdles, 59th in the 400 hurdles and 60th in the 200 meters.
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
- The 800 meters continues to be a good distance for the Bison on both the men's and women's sides. Caroline Tolli and Beth Braunegg finished first and third, respectively, at the Bucknell Team Challenge, while Ryan Johnson, Dennis Logan and John Westood placed first, second and fourth for the men. Braunegg's 2:16.63 was a season best.
- Johnson's win in the 800 was this second of the season with his first coming in his outdoor debut at the UMBC Invitational. The freshman has placed in the top four in each of his three 800-meter races this spring.
- Bucknell also swept the 4x800 races last Saturday. Emily Wheeler, Morgan Roche, Andrea Bougal and Justine Schnell combined for gold in 9:56.81. It was the first career victory in any event for each of the four Bison.
- Dustin Horning, Chris Oesterlin, Cole Conte and Tyler Erhard combined to win the 4x800 for the men in 8:11.62. Oesterlin was the 1,500-meter winner at UMBC, but it was the first victory of the season for his three teammates.
- Kylie Pearse set her second top-10 time of the year in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, running 11:15.35 for the sixth-fastest mark in program history. The finish was more than 10 seconds faster than her previous personal best, which came at UMBC in March.
- Four top-10 times have fallen in the women's steeplechase this spring. In addition to Pearse, Maddie Dulac ran 11:22.24 at the Colonial Relays. At the time, that was good enough for eighth in program annals but has since dropped to ninth. Leah Goeke became the third Bison in history to run a sub-11:00, clocking in at 10:55.07 for the No. 3 mark at the Bison Outdoor Classic.
- The steeplechase and the 10,000 meters are popular events for Bucknell when it comes to ECAC and IC4A qualifiers. John Dugan and Erhard have both qualified in the steeplechase, while D.J. Krystek, Michael McGowan, Montana DiPietrantonio and Zoe Gaston have met the standard in the 10K. Beth Braunegg is also and ECAC qualifier in the 1,500 meters.
- McGowan and Dugan are both ranked among the top 60 in the East in their specialty events. McGowan is 53rd in the 10K, while Dugan is 59th in the steeplechase.
THROWS
- Bucknell collected more awards on Monday thanks to Luke Webster's Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week citation. The senior was second in the discus, breaking his own school record, and also scored in the shot put and hammer throw. His mark in the hammer (161-1) was a season best.
- Saturday was the third time this season that Webster broke the Bucknell record in the discus.
- Also doing some damage in three throws events was Jack Fellows. The sophomore set career bests in the shot put (51-3 ¾) and discus (142-2), placing third and seventh, respectively. He was also eighth in the hammer (155-5).
- Quinten Marcott had been relatively quiet for much of the spring until Saturday when he registered a career best in the shot put. The senior improved his top mark to 52-6 ¾, placing second in the meet and taking over the No. 5 spot on the program ledger. Marcott was also ninth in the hammer with a career-best 153-9.
- Leonard Joseph remained undefeated by winning his third consecutive hammer title. The senior took the gold in 208-1, just a mere three inches better than his closest competitor. It was the closest hammer throw competition of the season for Joseph, who is beating the second-place thrower at his meets by an average of more than 12 feet this spring.
- Four men and one woman have set IC4A and ECAC-qualifying marks in the throws so far this spring. Joseph, who is also ninth in the region, will likely compete in the hammer throw. Marcott and Webster also have marks in the shot put, while Brian Monahan, Webster and Abby Monaghan have qualified in the discus. Webster's best throw in the discus has also given him the No. 38 ranking in the East region.
- Monaghan won her second discus title at the Bucknell Team Challenge. The senior posted a season-best 150-5. She has not placed lower than fourth in any of her four discus competitions this spring.
JUMPS
- Of Bucknell's 10 wins on the men's side at the Team Challenge, three of them came in the jumps and pole vault. Ray Holmes and Kevin Keller were the victors in the triple jump and long jump, while Scott Weismiller won the pole vault.
- Keller's and Weismiller's wins also came with the best marks of their careers. Keller finished with a distance of 23-10 ¼ in the long jump, tying him for fifth in program history. That was more than one foot better than his only other long jump competition this spring, when he went 22-9 at UMBC in March. Weismiller broke the 15-foot barrier for the first time in his outdoor career. The junior cleared 15-3, tying him for sixth all-time at Bucknell and giving him his first career win.
- Alex Prieto went a bit under the radar at the Bucknell Team Challenge thanks to the success of his teammates, but the junior put up some impressive marks of his own. Prieto placed third in both the long jump and triple jump. His long jump distance of 22-3 ½ was a season best, but he did one better in the triple jump. In that event, he cleared 47-7 ¾ to move from 10th on the program top-10 list up to No. 5.
- Alyssa Cardillo broke 18 feet for the first time in her long jump career. The senior placed fifth with a mark of 18-2 ¼ to lead the Bison.
- Emily Ando placed second in the pole vault for the second consecutive Bucknell Team Challenge and each time she dropped to the runner-up position based on misses. The junior cleared 11-2 ½ in windy conditions on Saturday.
- Holmes and Prieto have both qualified for the IC4A Championships in the triple jump, while Keller will join them in the long jump. Holmes and Keller also make up the Bison jumps duo that ranks among the top 60 in the East region in their respective events. Holmes is 38th regionally in the triple jump. Kellr is 46th in the long.
LOOKING BACK
- A select group of Bison competed at the Penn Relays in 2012. Among the highlights on the women's side was an 11th-place finish for Emily Liggett in the 3,000 meters. The then-senior finished in 9:45.55, giving her the third-fastest time in program history. High marks on the men's side came in the throws. Joseph was fifth in the hammer (199-2), Webster was eighth in the discus (163-2), Stephen Koullias was eighth in the shot put (51-7 ¼) and Marcott was 13th in the shot (50-2 ½).
- At the 2012 Maroon & Gold Invitational, Bucknell's men claimed eight wins while the women finished with nine.
- Oesterlin was the victor in the 800 meters, leading a group of Bison that took first through sixth at the event. The women's 5,000 meters was also a Bucknell-heavy event with the Bison taking first through fifth. Katie Jessee was the winner in that one.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell's next weekend of competition will feature the Patriot League Championships. The men will be looking for their fourth consecutive outdoor title and the women will be eyeing their 13th in program history when the Bison head to Bethlehem, Pa., May 3-4.
